Happy Six Sentence Sunday! 🙂

I finally finished the first draft of my novella about the Minotaur (working title: “Poseidon’s mask”) – yay! 🙂 I am posting today another excerpt from it (nine sentences instead of six – but some are really very short so forgive me!)

Here, the Satyr is talking to Asterion about Poseidon, Asterion’s father, and his wishes for his son, which aren’t what most fathers would want from their children:

The Satyr rose. Standing, he was much taller than Asterion, and his dark eyes glittered. “He sees much of himself in you. He’d want to test you, see if you are worthy. If you are divine enough. Savage enough. Wise enough.” He regarded Asterion with half-slitted eyes. “Question is, will you try?”

Hope you’re having fun with these snippets. 🙂 Check more out at http://sixsunday.blogspot.com/

Happy Sunday to all! 🙂 I was absent last week, but now I’m back with another snippet of a work in progress – a rewrite of the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur (novella-length, Young adult fantasy). This time we are in Theseus’ point of view. He’s talking with the satyr of the temple, who has a natural talent for sniffing trouble…

“You’re going with them, aren’t you?”

“Who?” The satyr pulled on his hair, and Theseus winced. “Ow, easy there, satyr.”

“I said, don’t lie to me. By some mischief or other, you’re going to change someone else’s lot for yours and go to fight Poseidon. That’s what I mean.”

Theseus said nothing, his heart thudding in his chest.

Check out more great excerpts on the six sentence sunday site.

Good Sunday everyone! For this week’s post, I have chosen the opening six (or so) sentences from a work in progress – a rewrite of the ancient Greek myth of the Minotaur. In the ancient myth, the Minotaur’s name is given as Asterion, the Starry One. The Bull from the sea was seen as a personification of Poseidon (thought to have been Pasiphae’s – Minotaur’s mother’s – lover) – and Poseidon was also thought to have been Theseus’ father. Therefore, Theseus killing Minotaur was a fratricide – or did Theseus kill the Minotaur? And was the Minotaur really a monster, or a man wearing a bull mask? These are the themes I explore in this novella, which I hope to finish soon.

 

Asterion paced the length of the room, back and forth, fists clenched at his sides. The bull mask grinned at him from its perch on the altar, the golden horns sparkling in the candlelight, the gem eyes glittering.
“You must do it,” said a gravelly male voice.
“Or what? The world ends? Chaos will fall on us?”
“And if I said yes?”

Thank you all for coming to read my snippets every time. For more great excerpt don’t forget to visit the Six Sentence Sunday site. 🙂

Happy Sunday to all! 🙂

This was a long weekend in Cyprus (Friday April 1st was a national holiday), so I have had more time for writing, which is great.

For this week’s post, I chose the opening lines of my short fantasy story “Indra’s Return” which you can read in the Spring (current) issue of Mirror Dance magazine.

Since it is the beginning of the story, I leave you to it, and will post another few lines from it next week.

Beyond the sea of Bara lay the land of exiles – human and troll cities, merchant harbors, thieves and whores. I was supposed to be there, leading a life of nostalgia and pain, languishing in Queen Syrana’s memory.

Dying inside.

But here I stood, well within the forbidden borders – forbidden only to me – of the human-elf coalition, polishing the tables of this accursed inn with a wet rag, and glaring at the hooded human about to grab my hip – again.

I slapped his hand away, and struggled not to punch him. That would be a man’s reaction, not a woman’s, and I had to keep my disguise. “Did you want something?”

I hope you like this story. For more great snippets, don’t forget to visit the sss site!

Six Sentence Sunday, and since that’s the only thing I’ve got time to post at this point on my blog (and I like it, too!), here goes one last snippet from The Angel Genome.

After losing her son, Sam, Lucia has decided that moving on is the only way to keep sane. Which is why Zeph’s question hurts:

His eyes sobered, not a child’s eyes, more serious, more grown-up than they ought to be. He held onto her hand. “Mama?”

The word tore through her like a knife, left her gasping.

“No.” She pried his fingers off her hand and stood, shaking her head over and over, trying to control the urge to run.

The anthology Extinct Doesn’t Mean Forever (containing The Angel Genome and another 18 short stories) is now available:

on Kindle

and

on Nook

Check out more snippets from many great authors here!

Happy Sunday everyone! 🙂

I am posting another excerpt from my short story The Angel Genome published in the Extinct doesn’t Mean forever Anthology, out now in electronic format!

Lucia lost her son, Sam, in an accident six months ago. Her husband is involved in a cloning project, and now tells her they’ve cloned an angel – a little boy called Zeph.

So, meet Zeph. 🙂

His chubby hands clenched and unclenched at his sides, pale against the khaki shorts. His legs were strong for a child his age, muscles showing in his calves. He didn’t move when she took a few steps toward him, only lifted his head to look up at her, to keep the eye contact.

A brave kid.

She knelt before him. His pale skin looked marshmallow soft, his cheeks still plump like a baby’s, his white hair silken and shiny, curling a little at the temples. He was so little. His size made her eyes sting.

From the start when I wrote this story I thought of it as a prologue to a novel telling Zeph’s story. I really hope one day to find the time to write it.

Be sure to check out the excerpt of other authors clicking here.

Also, for a bit of shameless self-promotion:

My novella Dioscuri (urban YA fantasy, retelling of a Greek myth) is out now with MuseItUp Publishing – and today (Sunday 20th March) there is a sale of 50% on all titles! Just use the code MA2011S in the discount box.

Ciao, I’m heading there now myself. 🙂

Six Sentence Sunday time again – let’s play! 🙂

This time I will give you an excerpt from my short story “The Angel Genome” which will come out sometime this month in the anthology “Extinct doesn’t mean forever” edited by Phoenix Sullivan.

Blurb: What if the legends of angels arose from an extinct human branch? Lucia doesn’t believe in angels – but she might believe in the cloned child of a forgotten race – Zeph.

Zeph isn’t acting in a very angelic manner right now. 😉

“Zeph was acting up again. He refused to eat, and threw his food on the wall.”

Trying to stifle a snort, Lucia coughed behind her hand. Fantastic. “Not very angelic behavior, is it?” If that wasn’t a clue, she didn’t know what was.

Thanks for dropping by and hope to see you again next sunday. Be sure to check out excerpts from the work of many great authors here!

Six Sentence Sunday! 🙂 For today, I’ve chosen a passage featuring Polydeukes (the immortal of the twin brothers) and the Satyr whom you met last week. The Satyr is trying to pound some sense into Polydeukes, warn him about the danger of the game he’s playing to keep Kastor alive. But the Satyr, despite all his knowledge, is about to realize for the first time how much brothers can love each other.

Pol rested his forehead on the hay, eyes running and stinging. He sat up, wiped at them. “What do you suggest?”
“Return Kastor to Hades with apologies. Stop this game.”
You don’t understand. “I can’t.”

 

I would also like to announce that Dioscuri (novella, urban fantasy, young adult) is now available to purchase with MuseItUp Publishing – just click here for the link!

To read more wonderful excerpts from many great authors in all genres go here.

Thank you to all for visiting my blog and leaving such wonderful comments! 🙂

My urban fantasy, Young adult novella “Dioscuri” is now out with MuseItUp Publishing!! I am thrilled!

You can buy the e-book here

Going to celebrate with some cocktails now – have you ever had Brandy Sour? It’s a Cypriot cocktail with brandy and bitter lemon. Try it, it’s addictive!!! 🙂

It’s Six Sentence Sunday again, and it’s time to play. 🙂

Since you seem to like Dioscuri, here is another snippet from the story. Kastor is baffled by everyone’s strange behavior and for being punished for things he can’t remember doing. He doesn’t yet know that his brother, Polydeukes, has struck a dangerous deal with the gods to keep Kastor alive. The Satyr of the Temple of the Resistance is also curious and wants to know what exactly is going on…

“Listen, Satyr, I appreciate the time you’re taking for me, but I’ve got to meet someone, I—”
“Because it cannot be someone playing games with the Underworld, can it?” The Satyr leaned closer, his long, flat face driving fear like a dagger into Kast, nailing him to his seat, driving his breath out. “That would cause the wrath of the higher immortals; call them down to punish us all. One doesn’t toy with the boundaries between the dead and the living.”
Kast drew back, the hairs on the back of his neck rising.

Here you can also read my interview with Julia Hones about fantasy writing.

Also, tomorrow I will be blogging about satyrs, silenes and other mythological creatures at Arnorris’ Blog. Come say hi! 🙂

For more great SSS snippets from all literary genres, go here. And remember, today is the One Year Anniversary of SSS – sign in at the site and be among the lucky ones to get a prize! 🙂 Ebooks, vouchers… Story goodness!

Above all, have fun! 🙂

Sunday again, and time to share six sentences with you! 🙂

Back in Dioscuri, the tale of Zeus’ twin sons, Kastor (Kast) and Polydeukes (Pol). Pol is immortal, Kast mortal. When Kast is mortally wounded, Pol decides to make a dangerous deal with the Underworld to keep him alive – alternating days with his brother in the world of living and the dead.

Kast can’t know what is happening, or the deal is off. But he has started to suspect something, and goes to see Sibyl, an oracle, recommended to him by his friend Ismene. Only Sibyl, a man despite the name, isn’t exactly as Kast imagined…

“Darling, you made it.”
Kast whirled about, hands going to his knives. The man wore long earrings with pearls, and a long, double row of pearls around his neck. And he wore a…dress? More like a long
robe. And makeup.
Kast forced his gaping mouth shut.

Read more SSS authors’ snippets here:

http://sixsunday.blogspot.com/

Thanks for dropping by! 🙂

Six Sentence Sunday has come around again! 🙂 I am very excited about participating in this fun project. So today I am posting six sentences – in fact the six opening sentences – from my short sci-fi novel Dakru (unpublished, under revision).

In the world of Dakru, where the all-women Gultur race rules, Elei must find out why he is hunted if he wants to remain alive.

Blood seeped through Elei’s fingers. He pressed them harder against the wound down his side, over his hip, gritting his teeth. The pulse of his heart leaped under his palm. He sat on a hard bench and waited for gods knew what. In his blurry eyes, everything had a shimmering edge, suspended between reality and dream.

Then the world tilted.

Danger.

I hope to start submitting Dakru in the next months.

Check excerpts posted by other authors, too!

Chrys: Today I have the great pleasure to have as a guest a wonderful lady and fantastic author, Lin Holmes.

Hi Lin, welcome! I am thrilled to have you here. J

Why don’t you tell me a little about your books?

Lin: First let me thank you for the opportunity to come here and talk about my work. This is only my second release and one of my all time favorite stories. Forever With You is a journey that a young woman who recently comes into money, but not in a way that brings her joy, must make. She’d always fantasized about developing the lake front mountain land she’d inherited, but her vision was quite different than what she must now create.

Armed with the blue prints from a very high profile architect, Coryne must find a reputable construction company that can deliver all the details she needs built into her new home, and do so in a very short period of time. The land must be graded, trees felled, macadam poured, and a one story cabin that will fit into the rustic mountain background and still deliver the very special aspects of the blueprints all in a mere heartbeat of time.

Keith Patterson owns and operates Patterson Construction. Coryne takes one look at him and feels something deep inside her that she’d forcefully determined was no longer viable, awaken. Looking for any reason to refuse to have this center-fold gorgeous hunk of raw man around her, she wonders if perhaps he is unsuitable for the job. Nobody who looks this good can deliver what she needs, she’s absolutely certain of that.

Her friends and co-workers vouch for Patterson Construction, and much to her chagrin, Coryne hires him.

The days, weeks and months that follow are torturous for Coryne. She sets up a small camping trailer on the site to oversee the progress. Not one of her smarter moves. Seeing Keith Patterson day after day with his shirt carelessly tossed on a nearby stump or vacant branch makes her jaw clench, her blood pressure rise and her dreams scorch the very air around her.

She must resist, she must resist. That mantra becomes her focal prayer. But Keith isn’t making it easy. With subtle glances, he lets her know the interest is not one sided at all. Damn, the very sight of him running his hand across the top of the workbench built into the garage raises her heat level twenty degrees.

The battle wears on her. Will she give in? It would be so easy…or it SHOULD be so easy.

Forever With You, the ending will surprise you and haunt you long after the last word has faded from your screen…I promise.

Chrys: Sounds great! What gave you the idea for this particular story?

Lin: Actually I rarely know where my stories come from. I’ll be going about my normal daily routine when Nudge, my annoying little inner voice, takes me over, forces me to grab pen and paper and channel Nudge. I never know what I’ve written until Nudge releases me, slips back into what ever corpuscle she is currently roosting in, and I get to read the rapid-fire chicken scratch she produced.  So far, Nudge hasn’t steered me wrong.

Chrys: Tell me, Lin, are you a full-time or part-time writer?

Lin: Since Nudge controls my writing. I am a Nudge-time writer.

Chrys: lol! Love the term. I hope someone will nudge me into writing some day soon. Lin, when did you realize you wanted to be a writer?

Lin: My Grandmother was a wonderful storyteller; between her and the two 80 year old ladies, Katie Sickle and Mary Powers that lived two doors away, I think it was preordained.  They regaled Little Lin with the wonderment of their lives, and I was enraptured. I knew I wanted others to feel the same awe from my stories that I felt when these three amazing women told their tales.

Chrys: What do you want readers to learn from your writing?

Lin: I think in everything I write there is a subtle message, whether it is something as simple as appreciating what you have because it can disappear in a heartbeat, or something more profound like, we all have choices no matter what pressures others place on us. Ultimately we can only blame others for so long. Sooner hopefully rather than later, we must claim ownership of the decisions we make.

Chrys: These are wise words. Which genres do you write?

Lin: Nudge is eclectic in what she feels compelled to make me say, so I don’t really have any one genre.

Chrys: What is the hardest part about being a writer? How do you get past it?

Lin: Promoting myself is the toughest part of being published for me. I grew up in a time when it was considered inappropriate to brag about yourself and your accomplishments. How do I get past it? My daughter, Kat Holmes, also an author at Muse, means more to me than words can ever express. I don’t want to ever disappoint her. Promoting myself is now part of this world she and I have adopted; that means I will do whatever they tell me is necessary so I do not let her down.

Chrys: Okay, now I will be nosy. Is there anything in your story based upon a real life event?

Lin: Only that like Coryne I have always dreamed about building my own mountain home.

Chrys: Is your protagonist like you?

Coryne responds to the events and emotions swirling around her the same way I would.  I’m not sure she IS different. This is a very short story, so the trials and issues she confronts are very limited. If I were inclined to expand it, which I am not, then maybe some of our differing approaches to life might come to light. But for now, I do not see any differences.

Chrys: What kind of research did you do for this story?

Lin: I’m lucky in that I have college degrees in so many fields, a lot of what Nudge has me writing about has its roots in the areas I earned my degrees in.  I would have needed to do research if I’d chosen to explain the blueprints. I am not an architect and have never had any desire to learn the mathematical formulas an architect must surely use.  Having volunteered as a counselor at women’s shelters, I understand the legal aspects of what Coryne, as a Family Court Attorney and advocate for battered women, tries to do every day.

If I offer any more about Coryne and my own areas of expertise, I’ll give away the surprise ending and you really don’t want me to do that.

Chrys: Nope! Don’t! 🙂 Do writing violent or highly sexual scenes bother you?

Lin: Violent scenes, Sado-masochism…they bother me.

Chrys: Why, can you explain more?

Lin: Because there’s enough violence that is real…it becomes uncomfortable for me to fictionalize it, so I try to avoid it…but that is not always possible. Some stories would not have the powerful voices I hope I have given them if there weren’t aspects of one or both at some point within the body of the story. We are by our nature and societal norms a violent, species.

Chrys: That is so true. What is the most special thing about your book?

Lin: The surprise ending.

Chrys: Do you have a marketing plan?

Lin: More of this…being able to guest on blogs, my daughter’s BTR… For those of you who do not know what that is, my daughter has her own Blog Talk Radio show online Called Kat’s Writing Pen, I talk up everyone I come into contact with, but I’m also considering giving our local free paper that is delivered twice a month to our mailboxes a free copy of Forever With You to its publisher and asking her to give my daughter and me an interview as local talent if she likes it.

Chrys: *takes notes* 🙂 Where can people learn more about you and your work?

Lin: The Best place is at the Muse It Up and Muse It Hot Websites. www.museituppublishing.com

www.museithotpublishing.com

I also have my blogs and I often do what I call Cover Blogs, but Ginger Simpson another Muse author calls Stationary Trailers.

http://linsownblog.blogspot.com this is for the main Muse Authors

http://linsownbooklounge.blogspot.com this is for Muse’s YA authors

http://linsownoyster.blogspot.com this is for Muse authors and Non Muse authors who have books with other publishers. I will be adding at least one more soon so they we will have a spot for Mainstream AND HOT.

Chrys: I love your cover blogs! Any tips for new authors writing in the genre of your book?

Lin: You have to write what makes you feel on fire for your characters, their stories, their voices. If YOU don’t’ love them, no one else will. And research, research, research. Before you ever sub your precious manuscript, investigate which publishers have positive ratings and which don’t. Predators and Editors, Piers Anthony, Writer Beware…check them out…you can Google them for their websites. If you wait until you have signed that contract and you are with a disreputable publisher, you have opened your self to a hell that will rip your heart in two. Never sign until you have done your homework.

Chrys: Dear Lin, thank you very much for taking the time to answer my questions! It was a pleasure having you over. Your story sounds great, and I can’t wait to read it! In fact, I am heading to the MuseItUp store right now. 🙂

See you all later – after THE END!

I am participating in a weekly online event called “Six Sentence Sunday“. We link our blogs to the Six Sentence Sunday website, and post six sentences from either a published or unpublished work of ours. It’s a way to read what other people have written, network, and have fun. Check it out, it’s great!

For this one, my first participation, I am posting six lines from my paranormal novella DIOSCURI coming out in March with MuseItUp Publishing.

What DIOSCURI is about:

When you are Zeus’ immortal son, you know you can get away with mostly anything. But, as Pol will soon find out, bringing back the dead is not one of those things.

Besides, pretending to be his brother Kast, as part of the plot to annul his death, is proving way too hard for Pol. If he can’t fool the mortals, how will he ever manage to fool the gods?

My six sentences from DIOSCURI:

Oh boy, Kast probably never opened his mouth when on duty. Figures. He had to relax, play Kast’s role. He was jittery, and his mind kept flashing images of Kast dying, blood pouring out of the wound in his chest, thick and warm. The room swam in Pol’s gaze for a moment, and he placed a hand on the wall behind him, to steady himself. Kast was not dead.

I hope you will like DIOSCURI. I am planning a trilogy of Greek myths retold around the theme of siblings and mythology. Have a nice day! 🙂

You can read more excerpts from the participating authors here.